Spinal traction device



p 1958 L. CIAMPA SPINAL TRACTION DEVICE Filed Sept. 19. 1957 INVENTOR. LINCOLN 1.. CIAMPA d( %wv I QTTOFENEYS the spine itself.

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States atent Qfiice SPINAL TRACTION DEVICE Lincoln L. Ciampa, New York,-N. Y. Application September 19, 1957, Serial No. 684,898

6 Claims. (c1. 128-75) This invention relates to apparatus for developing or applying tension or traction to the human spine, and more particularly to such apparatus which develops spinal traction by exerting an upward pull simultaneously at both the base of the skull and the front portion of the lower jaw bone, without contact with any other portions of the skull.

The use of spinal traction has long been used by doctors and others skilled in the art to treat various human disorders caused by skeletal maladjustments in the cervical and thoracic regions of the body, as well as along Such treatment has been widely used to relieve pressure on nerves,.muscular sprains, and similar irregularities,v and has often necessitated the frequent application of traction for relatively short intervals of p time throughout the day for several days or even weeks at a time.

1 designs have been devised in the past, all still falling somewhat short of the desired qualities regarding simplicity, comfort, safety and ease of application without assistance.

Prior structures have usually involved harnesses of cloth, leather, or the like which are buckled or otherwise secured in place on the head of the patient, and

which fit snugly across and around the head in order to beheld in proper alignment. Not only were the latter harnesses uncomfortable for the wearer, and generally required another person to secure the buckles and connect the harness to the tensioning means, but the cloth or leather was subject to stretching in use and to eventual deterioration within an undesirably short period of time, being accelerated possibly by perspiration and other body excretions, and the safety of the apparatus was thereby considerably impaired, if not reduced below minimum requirements.

Furthermore, by virtue of the delicate nature of many patients requiring the treatment by spinal traction, and their proneness to fainting, nausea, etc., it is highly desirable that Whatever skull harness is used be quickly and entirely removable from the head almost immediately upon the feeling of the particular symptoms of distress. When various patients are to be treated by the same apparatus, for example, in clinical service, it is mandatory that the apparatus also be sterilizable to maintain the proper hygienic standards.

None of the skull harnesses theretofore used in the art have met all of the above criteria sufficiently to provide a device having the necessary qualities.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a skull harness for developing spinal traction by the application of a firm positive upward pressure on the head by contact therewith only at the base of the skull and at the forward part of the lower jaw bone.

Another object is to provide such a device which can be quickly and easily applied to the head of the patient to be treated without assistance from others, and even while the device is connected in place on the tensioning means.

A further object is to provide a skull harness for developing spinal traction which is of sturdy construction, lightweight, adjustable, and which can be sterilized.-

An additional object is to provide such a device in which an upward pull on the yoke produces a squeezing pressure between the neck plate and chin cup which isin direct proportion to the force exerted on the yoke.

Still another object is to provide such a traction device which only applies squeezing pressure to the head during the actual application of spinal traction, and in which the squeezing pressure is released as soon as the traction is discontinued.

Briefly, the present invention comprises a tubular U- shaped yoke adapted for interconnection of its curved portion with an overhead tensioning means and having apair of opposed downwardly disposed sides for disposition along either side of a patients head. An arcuate head rest means is pivotally connected at its ends to the respective ends of the sides of the yoke, and is adapted for engagement with the base of-the skull. A pair of screw clamp means are slidably disposed one on each of the sides of the yoke and each has a strap or hanger pivotally mounted at one end to the screw clamp means for generally vertical and forward swinging movement of the free end of the hanger relative to the respective sides of the yoke, and an arcuate chin rest means is pivotally affixed at its ends to the respective free ends of the hangers and is adapted for receiving the chin portion of the skull. Both the chin and the head rest means have removable sterilizable resilient padding means. The screw clamp means are adjustable for positioning the chin and head rest means relative to one another for cooperative engagement thereof with the aforesaid portions of the skull, whereby an upward pull on the yoke by the tensioning means will cause the chin and head rest means to move toward one another and upwardly against the skull and thereby develop spinal traction while being the only points of said apparatus in contact with the skull.

Other objects and features of the invention will be come apparent in the following description and claims, and in the drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a side elevation of one form of the invention showing its position on a human head;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the device of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the device of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view of the forces exerted by the device during use.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly Fig. 1, one embodiment of the invention is shown and designated generally by the reference numeral 10. It is comprised of a tubular U-shaped bar or yoke 11 having a pair of opposed sides 12, 13 each having flattened ends 14,15 respectively. Interposed between the'ends 14, 15 is an arcuate or concave plate or head rest means 16 having end flanges 17, 18 pivotally secured to respective ends 14, 15 of the yoke 11 by any convenient well known' means such as the rivets 19 (see also Fig. 3). Washers 26 may be interposed between the flanges 17, 18 and ends 14, 15 as shown. Head rest means 16 thus may be rotatably adjusted with respect to yoke 11 in the direc- Patented Sept.. 9, 1958 A pair of screw clamp means 23 are slidably disposed,

one each on each of the sides 12, 13 of the yoke 11, and being releasably securable at any preselected position thereon by means ofv screw 24 which presses together flanges 25, 26 of the clamp means 23 in the usual manner. A second pair of flanges 27, 28 on each of the clamp means 23 provide a pivotal connection for one end 29 of respective'elongated straps or hangers 30'which are interconnected therewith by means of bolt or rivet 31 to permit vertical swinging movement 'of the hanger 30 relative to the sides 12, 13 of the yoke 11. As shown in Fig. 2, the hangers 30 are disposed at a slight angle with respect to the sides 12, 13 so as to extend inwardly anddownwardly and bring their respective free ends 32, 33 closer together than the distance between their pivoted ends 29.

Interposed between such free ends 32, 33 is arcuate. plate or chin rest means 34 which is pivotally aflixed at its ends 35, 36 to the respective free ends 32, 33 of the hangers 30 by means of bolts or rivets 37, or the like. The inner surface 38 of the chin rest means 34 has resilient padding means 39 disposed thereon similar to that used on the head rest means 16 as mentioned above, and likewise may be removable therefrom for cleaning or replacement purposes. The general inner contour of the chin rest means 34 is adapted for receiving the chin portion of the skull as will be explained in greater detail below. The chin rest means 34 is rotatably adjustable with respect to the hangers .30 in the directions shown by arrow B.

When it is desired to apply spinal traction for treating maladjustments of the spine, as well as in the cervical region, i. e. the neck, or the thoracic region, i. e. between the neck and theabdomen, the present device is assembled on the patient as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The yoke 11 is positioned with its curved portion 40 over the head or skull 41 as shown with the sides 12, 13 extending downwardly and rearwardly to bring the head rest means 16 against the occipital bone 42 at the base of the skull with the associated padding means 21 in contact therewith. Screw clamp means 23 are loosened by means of adjustmerit of screws 24 and slidably positioned along the respective sides 12, 13 until a position is reached at which the chin rest means 34 comfortably engages the mandible bone 43 of the jaw in a snug comfortable position as shown. At that point screws 24 are'tightened to lock' the clamp means 23 in their proper respective positions. At this point the yoke 11 may be connected to the overhead tensioning means (not shown) of any standard type, such as a hook, pulleys and weights etc., if such connection had not already been made prior to positioning'of the device on the patient.

As shown in Fig. 4, an upward tensioning force applied to the yoke 11, as indicated by arrow C, will cause the head rest means 16 and the chin rest means 34 to move toward one another, as indicated by arrows D and E respectively, and upwardly against the skull to thereby develop the desired spinal traction. The latter described action is similar and somewhat analogous to the resilient forces acting on a pair of ice tongs, and as soon as the upward tensioning pull is released, the device may be quickly and easily removed from the patients head by merely pushing the chin rest means outwardly away from the chin, or to the right as viewed in Fig. 1.

The location of the screw clamp means 23 on the respective sides 12, 13 of the yoke 11 changes the ratio of ,the lateral forces exerted bythe chin rest means 34 on head rest means 16, and consequently pressure on the head rest means 16 may be increased or decreased in relation to the pressure on the chin rest means 34 by the adjustment of the screw clamp means 23 on the sides 12, 13. Furthermore, such location of the clamp means 23 changes the position of the point on the yoke 11 where pressure is applied by the upward tensioning force in relation to the center of gravity of the patients body. This afiects the angle of the head with relation to the spine, i. e. the further forward the curved part of the yoke 11 is in relation to the center of gravity of the body, the higher the chin will be lifted in relation to the back of the head, and the desired orientation of the head with respect to the spine can be achieved as desired.

As can be seen from the foregoing, the present device is so constructed as to have only two points or areas of contact with the patient, namely, the head rest means 16 at the base 42 of the skull, and the chin rest means 34 at the chin or mandible bone 43. Thus, maximum comfort is provided for the patient during treatment.

It may be desirable, although not necessary, to include at the curvedpart 40 of the yoke 11, a hook or eye or other means (not shown) either mounted in a fixed position or on a universal or swivel type joint, in order to provide some lateral freedom during use, if so desired.

The device 10 is adjustable for patients of various sizes and padding means 21 and 39 of various thicknesses and contours can be utilized to aid in accommodating different persons, and in aid of sanitary precautions, tissue paper or the like can be inserted over the aforementioned padding when in use.

The above device shows the present invention to have succeeded where others heretofore had failed in achieving a practical, sturdy, and easily adjustable skull harness requiring a minimum of contact with the skull and afford-- ing hygienic standards previously lacking. All of the ready known to those skilled in the art and need not be elaborated upon herein. The construction of this apparatus is such that it can be completely sterilized in the usual autoclave sterilization process used in hospitals and v and additions can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention. For example, instead of the specific screw clamp means disclosed above, other well known equivalent clamping or locking means can be employed, such as cam clamping means, threaded ferrule or collar means, etc. Such changes, as well as others, are contemplated as being within the scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for developing spinal traction comprising a yoke adapted for interconnection with a tensioning means and having a pair of opposed sides, head rest means pivotally connected to said sidesand adapted for engagement with the occipital portion of the skull, screw clamp means one each slideably disposed on each of said sides and each having a hanger pivotally mounted at one end thereto, and a chin rest means pivotally afiixed to such hangers and adapted for receiving the mandible portion of the skull, said screw clamp means adjustable for positioning said chin and head rest means for cooperatively engaging the aforesaid portions of the skull to develop the spinal traction in response to said tensioning means.

2. Apparatus for developing spinal traction comprising a U-shaped.yoke adapted for interconnection with a tensioning means and having a pair of opposed sides, head rest means pivotally connected at its ends to the respective ends, of said sides and ,adaptedfor engagement with the base 'of the skull, a pair of screw clamp means one each slideably disposed on each of said sides, and each screw clamp means having a hanger pivotally mounted at one end thereto for verticsl swinging movement of the free end relative to the respective of said sides, and chin rest means pivotally afiked at its ends to the respective free ends of said hangers and adapted for receiving the chin portion of the skull, said screw clamp means adjustable for positioning said chin and head rest means relative to one another for cooperatively engaging the aforesaid portions of the skull, whereby an upward pull on said yoke by said tensioning means causes said chin and head rest means to move toward one another and upwardly against said skull and thereby develop spinal traction.

3. Apparatus for developing spinal traction comprising a tubular U-shaped yoke adapted for interconnection with a tensioning means and having a pair of opposed sides, arcuate head rest means pivotally connected at its ends to the respective ends of said sides and adapted for engagement with the base of the skull, a pair of screw clamp means one each slideably disposed on each of said sides, and each screw clamp means having a hanger pivotally mounted at one end thereto for vertical swinging movement of the free end relative to the respective of said sides, and arcuate chin rest means pivotally aifixed at its ends to the respective free ends of said hangers and adapted for receiving the chin portion of the skull, said screw clamp means adjustable for positioning said chin and head rest means relative to one another for cooperatively engaging the aforesaid portions of the skull, whereby an upward pull on said yoke by said tensioning means causes said chin and head rest means to move toward one another and upwardly against said skull, and thereby develop spinal traction While being the only points of said apparatus in contact with said skull.

4. Apparatus for developing spinal traction comprising a tubular U-shaped yoke adapted for interconnection with an overhead tensioning means and having a pair of opposed downwardly disposed sides, arcuate head rest means pivotally connected at its ends to the respective ends of said sides and adapted for engagement with the base of the skull, a pair of screw clamp means one each slideably disposed on each of said sides, and each screw clamp means having a hanger pivotally mounted at one end thereto for vertical swinging movement of the free end relative to the respective of said sides, and arcuate chin rest means pivotally 'atfixed at its ends to the respective free ends of said hangers and adapted for receiving the chin portion of the skull, said screw clamp means adjustable for positioning said chin and head rest means relative to one another for cooperatively engaging the aforesaid portions of the skull, whereby an upward pull on said yoke by said tensioning means causes said chin and head rest means to move toward one another and upwardly against said skull and thereby develop spinal traction While being the only points of said apparatus in contact with said skull.

5. Apparatus for developing spinal traction comprising a tubular U-shaped yoke adapted for interconnection with an overhead tensioning means and having a pair of opposed downwardly disposed sides, arcuate head rest means pivotally connected at its ends to the respective ends of said sides and adapted for engagement with the base of the skull, a pair of screw clamp means one each slideably disposed on each of said sides, and each screw clamp means having a hanger pivotally mounted at one end thereto for vertical swinging movement of the free end relative to the respective of said sides, and arcuate chin rest means pivotally affixed at its ends to the respective free ends of said hangers and adapted for receiving the chin portion of the skull, removable sterilizable resilient padding means disposed on each of said chin and head rest means, said screw clamp means adjustable for positioning said chin and head rest means relative to one another for cooperatively engaging the aforesaid portions of the skull, whereby an upward pull on said yoke by said tensioning means causes said chin and head rest means to move toward one another and upwardly against said skull and thereby develop spin-a1 traction while being the only points of said apparatus in contact with said skull.

6. Apparatus for developing spinal traction comprising a yoke adapted for interconnection with a tensioning means and having a pair of opposed sides, head rest means pivotally connected to said sides and adapted for engagement with the occipital portion of the skull, clamping means one each slideably disposed on each of said sides and each having a hanger pivotally mounted at one end thereto, and a chin rest means pivotally aflixed to such hangers and adapted for receiving the mandible portion of the skull, said clamping means adjustable for positioning said chin and head rest means for cooperatively engaging the aforesaid portions of the skull to develop the spinal traction in response to said tensioning means, the entire apparatus being capable of sterilization by autoclave.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

